As Beyond Checkered Flags Ministries, they work in a ministry alliance with Motor Racing Outreach Association and Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Lets focus on our YWAM “hat” below:
YWAM is an inter-denominational ministry, serving the Christian Church throughout North America and the world. YWAM’s history can be found under the Youth With A Mission header for your convenience. As you will come to see, Bob and Kathy’s YWAM experience, plus Bob’s life-long relationship with racing, will blend into a unique new ministry alliance using the strengths of YWAM and MRO to reach not only the racing community, but the world as well for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Just like MRO takes “church to the track” YWAM in all reality, takes “Church to the World” One of the positives is the fact we are able to go beyond denominational wall with YWAM …and we absolutely love this! Our family feel so very honored and privileged to be chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to represent Him around the world for over 33 years now. It has been wonderful to have the opportunity to personally be involved with so many student and staff lives as they have been trained and successfully sent out to serve where God has given them vision to go …whether for a short term mission project & outreach or for their entire life. Our family has been involved with almost every role from administrative to leading outreaches internationally.
Today Bob and Kathy serve the YWAM Salem, Oregon Campus and are involved in YWAM North America. They work by mostly a consulting and pastoral care role and specific “special projects” on the Salem, Oregon campus.
Born near Rochester, New York, Bob has been involved with, and loved the sport of auto racing since around the age of nine, which sort of went on the “back burner” for many years of ministry at first. The youngest of two boys, his parents brought him up in the church, but it was really not until 1978 and living in Oregon before he totally committed his life to serving Jesus Christ. Bob says: “that was the greatest day of my life. I met my personal Savior and my future wife in one morning!” He immediately recognized God’s call on his life for ministry and began classes with Aloha School of the Bible and Portland Bible College through his local church. Prior to this, his career included four years in the U.S. Air Force and long haul trucking across America until he married his wife Kathy in 1980. He trained in college as an architect while working at Eastman Kodak before entering the Air Force.
Kathy is a native Oregonian from Aloha, Oregon and became a Christian during High School. She graduated from Aloha High School in 1974. Bob and Kathy became best friends upon meeting at a church College & Career group in 1978. At that time Kathy worked at a bank in Aloha. Their time was spent ministering with their local church outreach every Saturday night for a number of years. Married in 1980, their oldest daughter Leeanne was born in 1982 and Sarah in 1984. Both the girls became Christians at a young age and have traveled internationally in ministry with their parents since 1987. Leeanne graduated High School in June 2001 and Sarah with the class of 2002.
After leaving trucking, Bob worked as a Letter Carrier with the U.S. Postal Service as he attended Bible College. In 1987 Bob and Kathy went into full time ministry with Youth With A Mission, (YWAM), one of the largest inter-denominational missionary training, evangelistic, and mercy ministry agencies around the world today. They have led outreach teams to Europe, the former Soviet bloc nations and Mexico. Even with their busy schedules the entire family still takes time to staff the YWAM NIKO & Ropes Course ministries that teach team building and leadership training using the wilderness as its teaching tool. Bob was the YWAM ministry Administrator at the North American headquarters in Salem, Oregon while Kathy used her accounting talents as Financial Administrator for 16 years when they were not traveling with the former NASCAR Northwest Tour or West Series. Today, as Beyond Checkered Flags Ministries, they lead both a race ministry team and serve YWAM at the same time using their relationships with YWAM and MRO in an alliance. Their involvement with both organizations only strengthens both.
“Kathy is my best friend and my ministry partner in every thing I have done, and the race ministry is even more effective when she can be with me” says Bob. Bob and Kathy actively attend Church On The Hill (or COTH) in Salem as their home church since 2010. Annually, in either January or February, our whole family has lead what became a highlight of each year when they blended YWAM’ers and racing series people into an international outreach to the needy. Together, the group built one and sometimes two homes for homeless families in Ensenada, Mexico with YWAM’s “Homes of Hope” project.
We as a couple have become a powerful ministry team that can offer so much love, care, and assistance to each person the Lord sends us to personally touch; whether they may be involved in the racing community,YWAM, our local Salem surrounding area or the world. We want to be available when someone has a need to talk or counsel.”
Bob and Kathy’s favorite scripture for their family is Psalms 127:1 ” If you do not build your house with the Lord, you are laboring in vain to build it.” They believe that no matter what you try to accomplish, the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation and the first person to involve in the goal or issue at hand.
Their desire is to live out their lives before everyone they come in contact with comes from 2 Corinthians 2:14 in the Amplified Bible text. ” But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph – as trophies of Christ’s victory – and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere, for we are the sweet smelling fragrance of Christ, unto God, among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” Through their ministry the goal is to change and improve lives to follow in their footsteps and glorify God and His Son Jesus Christ.